


Artifact Storage

by pasta_enby



Series: Bystanders of the Apocalypse [5]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Artifact Storage, Gen, I don't think I add enough tags to these but that's all I can think of, One Shot, POV Outsider, She's just minding her own business, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-24 23:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22366435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasta_enby/pseuds/pasta_enby
Summary: A worker in Artifact Storage on her thoughts of Jonathan Sims.
Series: Bystanders of the Apocalypse [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1609042
Comments: 14
Kudos: 256





	Artifact Storage

**Author's Note:**

> Boom boom boom another one! Feel kinda eh about it but I want it out there! Enjoy!

Laura worked in the artifact storage or the Magnus Institute. She was fresh out of college, as were a lot of her coworkers, and in desperate need of a job. Something to pay for her completely useless degree in archaeology; she chose the major early on in her life, during her dinosaur phase, and never really grew out of it, despite knowing that it will give her nothing but mounds of debt. She admitted that she didn’t have the best common sense.

But that’s besides the point. She knew that the Magnus Institute was shady and often discredited, but it paid well enough, and the work wasn’t back-breaking or anything. She didn’t really believe in many of the supernatural things going on, but working in artifact storage made her suspicious of her long-held beliefs. But she wasn’t getting paid to dig further into the items than necessary, and she didn’t mind not knowing. It wasn’t her business. She worked alone for the most part, as her shift didn’t line up at all with the other girl working in the department-- Sonia was her name, something like that. 

Point is, she didn’t know many of the other people that worked there. She knew that Elias Bouchard ran the Institute, but she’d seen him about twice since she was hired. Gertrude Robinson was the Head Archivist. Well, until she died. That was all a nasty shock. Then some kid, barely older than her (though he didn’t look it) became her successor. 

She only interacted with Jonathan Sims once. Well, twice, really. Laura found him one night, early on in his career, searching for… something. He was very vague. Jon had prematurely graying hair, a relatively small height and stature, glasses with a cord that seemed more suited for old librarians, and a permanent scowl etched into his face. It looked as though he hadn’t slept in a week, or done anything outside of work for just as long. She asked him if he needed help, to which he deflected a little too rudely. It was fine. She didn’t care who worked at this place. None of her business, as she always said.

The second time, he hadn’t seen her. Laura had had a longer night than usual (she already worked the late night shifts, the ones that ended at nearly 3 in the morning) and was wrapping up one last thing, some weird book or something. But then she heard footsteps. Not large, harsh ones, nor stealthy ones that begged not to be heard. These were determined. Naturally, she peeked into the hall to see where they were coming from. She was supposed to be the only working at this time.

She saw Jon walking towards his department. He shouldn't have been coming to work in the first place, with the worm business. God, the worms. They all said it was just some parasite or other, but Laura didn’t believe a word of it. She saw the scars it left on Jon, the deeps holes the size of a coin, sprinkled across his body like freckles. Nothing normal could’ve done that. And with Gertrude...Who would want to kill that pleasant woman? She might not have been a saint, but she wasn’t a bad person with any known enemies. She considered following him, but thought better of it. It’s not like she cared, he was a bit of a twat from what snippets she’d caught from office gossip. So she minded her own business and left without a word.

She heard a lot of whispered rumors about him. Jon’s bullying one of his assistants. Jon’s stalking his assistants all hours of the day. Jon was in a punk rock band in college. Jon watches everyone in the building, even when they sleep, and there’s nothing you can do about it because he’s Elias’s favorite. Jon killed Gertrude. That one gained some traction after...all that. Old man, killed in Jon’s office, Jon disappears. Police come by and question each and every worker at the Institute. Laura decides not to mention that second time she’d seen him. 

Then he was back. Laura steered clear from his part of the building. That was three people that had died that she knew of-- Gertrude, the old man, and now Sasha. She couldn’t stand it anymore. Laura left the Institute. She couldn’t be this close to death, even though the pay beckoned her. 

(When one of Jon’s assistants became surprised that she had quit, not for her reasoning, but her ability to do so, she reckoned she had made a good decision.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, please comment if you have any ideas or suggestions for future stories! Or if there are any that you would want to be expanded to a decently sized fic instead of one shots!


End file.
